One of the changes for season three of Star Trek: Picard will be with the music with a new composer. Showrunner Terry Matalas brought in his former 12 Monkeys collaborator Stephen Barton to help create a score to match his vision for the season, and they have a holiday treat, sharing a bit of the new original music from the score.
Titan theme
One of the reasons Barton was brought in for season 3 was to bring some of the classic Star Trek movie themes into the show to match the cinematic style Matalas wants to evoke. This includes him recreating some of the classic musical moments from composers like Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner.
Naturally, the primary hero ship, the USS Titan-A, has a theme. Matalas has shared a “happy holidays!” gift of a video of the Titan theme being recorded, which definitely fits in with classic Star Trek movie music. See the video below
View this post on Instagram
Make your own Titan music
Barton has shared the sheet music for the theme, which he says was “basically co-written” with Matalas. The showrunner has added that he wants to hear some fan covers of the music.
Let’s hear some covers, fans! #StarTrekPicard! https://t.co/5taCvFldQX
— Terry Matalas (@TerryMatalas) December 24, 2022
If you are musically inclined and decide to make your own cover, be sure to share it with Terry and Stephen on Twitter (or Instagram).
Coming on Feb 16
The third and final season premieres on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., with new episodes of the 10-episode-long season available to stream weekly on Thursdays. Here is the latest trailer from NYCC.
Picard streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S.A. It is distributed concurrently by Paramount Global Content Distribution on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories, and in Canada it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
Beautiful. Star Trek feels more and more Star Trek to me every season. The theme is a nice touch and it DOES evoke the classic films.
This has to be the moment the Titan is coming out of Drydock or the first time they see her
Looks like they have had star trek 3 on repeat, very retro!
Very Horner-esque and a throwback to the lush, melodic form of film composing that hasn’t been in style for a number of years.
Yeah, the horns in harmony playing is very naval. Sounds great.
Reminded me a bit of the music from wrath of khan
Agreed. Some of us just enjoy and appreciate being swept up in the music of the late Mr. Horner. A composer/conductor friend of mine from years back, commented on the death of Mr.Horner work as being a passing of one of the last composers of that style of melodies. His ST III score is my #1 favorite, and my most-played ST score to this day, with the lush beauty of the “Return to Vulcan” cue helping carry me through the passing of a couple of very close loved ones…
Yes, lots of callbacks to STII, STIII, and even a touch of Goldsmith. I still think the Titan design is ugly and lazy and too reliant on Star Trek Online design cues, but at least we get pretty music…Picard has been rather lackluster in that regard. Very excited for season 3!
We’ll it still looks infinitely better than the NX-01 incremental design cluster-f#@k that wrote over Rodenberry’s XCV-330 established canon. Lol, that lowest bar will probably never be reached again. That was by far the worst major starship ever in Star Trek.
The NX-01 is one of my favorites. It feels more primitive than Kirk’s ship, but still beautiful in its own way.
Same! Absolutely love it. I still want to see the refit on air one day, beyond the model we got in Picard.
I could not disagree more, buy hey, IDIC. I mean, 30% of the nation still likes that orange haired wannabe dictator, so what are we gonna do, lol.
You’re losing your touch man. Here I am agreeing with you again, on both the NX-01 and the orange bloated loudmouth. Just too bad I couldn’t have the satisfaction of voting against him in 2020 (I’m Canadian).
LOL, awesome!
ONE LION. FINAL WARNING for political trolling. And on Christmas!
OK, sorry, it was intended as humor.
I don’t see how ENT decanonized the XCV-330 ringship. On the contrary, it established that ringships were a common Vulcan design, so we can surmise that one of Earth’s first starships — a pre-Warp 5 one — was based on Vulcan design. It likely plied the routes between Earth and the nearest systems, such as Vulcan and Alpha Centauri.
Of course that fits NOW because of the Berman canon re-write. They doubled down on it and created that new backstory which just seems so perfectly reasonable now.
That TMP scene with Decker and Ilaia clearly shows the XCV-330 as the precursor starship to TOS Enterprise — and Rodenberry deliberately included that in that scene, so that is what he intended as canon. Drexler and Okuda even came to Berman twice with XCV-330 derived designs for the Enterprise series starship, but Berman refused, and insisted on something derivative. And then after it debuted on Enterprise, well of course they double-downed on the canon re-write in multiple ways in later eps and other Berman series to cement in their canon rewrite. I mean the whole Vulcan ringship thing was made up AFTER the Berman NX-01 canon force-fit, so of course it supports that house of cards perfectly logical explanation…lol
I think it depends on the point of view. As an UFP starship and a predecessor of the TOS-Enterprise the NX-01 makes sense. It looks more primitive and clunkier, at least way more primitive than the Enterprise refit. And by calling the show Enterprise there was a reason to have a starship which could be identified as some kind of Enterprise.
Too bad, the design aged badly since it wasn’t a physical model. 20 years later it looks way to CGI. Nevertheless I like that design. But it should be HD-remastered.
But canon-wise it doesn’t make sense, because the NX-01 was a HUMAN starship BEFORE the UFP of planets was founded. Shouldn’t the flagship of the UFP incorporate designs of starships of different species? Especially since humans were technologically behind other advanced species?
Inside ENT it makes sense to have humans, vulcans, andorians and Tellarites their own starship designs. But inside the whole Star Trek universe the NX-01 should have looked that way after the foundation of the UFP and not before. What happened in Starfleet with the other designs of those who founded the UFP?
Well said!
It was on the wall in the bar on the episode that showed Archer doing the test flight. So yes the human ring ship is canon.
Not in love with the Titan either but I’m hoping it will grow on me. If it turns out to be a great season then it won’t matter at all to me.
Sorry but last season’s score was BEAUTIFUL! From the updated opening theme to some of the callbacks we got. It’s still a beautiful score to listen to for sure
I would say this evokes Goldsmith’s “The Enterprise” track from TMP more than the Horner soundtracks. Very majestic and naval.
I think it does both. It sounds like the Enterprise coming out of the drydock in TMP and ST II.
I didn’t know it was possible to evoke James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith simultaneously in the same 36 seconds, but that madlad Stephen Barton did it!
Yes exactly. I just listened to it again and you can definitely hear a mix of Goldsmith and Horner. Very well done indeed!
Most early Horner IS just recycled Goldsmith (BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS riffs on PATTON as well as GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY and TMP.) Then he made a disgustingly good living ripping off Ligeti for ALIENS and PATRIOT GAMES and probably a couple more places, but most often just reworking (sometimes without even changing orchestrations) his own stuff. 48HRs is COMMANDO is pretty much all other then-contemporary films scored by Horner. The same stuff you hear in STEALING THEENTERRISE is in BRAINSTORM and UNCOMMON VALOR, while ALIENS takes from that and from WOLFEN/KHAN.
All that aside, this excerpt sounds very promising. Can’t imagine the visuals will in any way do it justice given the way all ship VFX look under shows produced by Orci’s old writing partner, but that starship has cleared sailed.
Very true. First noticed Horner’s self plagiarism in Brainstorm. I thought I was listening to the score from TWOK.
It is a little-known fact that the aliens in Aliens spontaneously developed their forehead ridges when hearing the STTSFS Klingon Theme recycled for them.
I noticed something from ST III in Aliens too.
And so did Jerry Godlsmith. I swear I heard something from TMP in Poltergeist.
And so did also the composer from ST IV, who recycled the main theme from Lord of the Rings 1978.
Great composers have been riffing their own work or others for centuries. Bach did it lots in his lifetime; one of Brahm’s most famous works is a variation on a Hadyn theme. Leonard Rosenman’s opening credits to Star Trek IV also take a pretty well known melodic line from Bach’s first movement in his 2nd Brandenburg Concerto.
Are you talking about the VFX or the designs? I think the VFX looks better than anything in the Berman era, and we can’t all have ILM at our beck and call. As for the designs, I think they look great apart from the Titan, which I can tell was designed by a fan. A talented fan, to be sure, but the design of the engineering hull still feels a bit boxy and off. It feels like the first draft of something spectacular that people would be talking about for a long time, but only if they had touched it up a bit. Particularly the deflector and the nacelles. I love the saucer, though.
But hey, if the story is good, I can forgive all the scrawny nacelles the show could possibly throw at me. And if the music is any indication, they’ve nailed the nautical feel of TNG. For me, that’s half the battle.
The designs aren’t great, but in the eps I’ve seen (no DSC since end of s2, can’t pay me to go there again) the vfx, except for some cg creature work in dsc s1, are absolute rubbish. This deliberate choice to go gauzy and underdetailed in the vacuum of space is absurd — like using imagery from seaQuest for a space show — as well as aesthetically for the not so great birds. It isn’t a matter of lousy vendors, they have all done superb work — just not on Kurtzman trek.
I kind of agree with you. The vfx feels strangely smooth and glossy, almost as if they are rendering the effects in the space scenes through the lens of Kari Lake’s zoom camera. (Not intended as political trolling, I just couldn’t think of a better description for what I mean.)
I had to look up the Lake reference, as I have a tendency of late to skip right past anything having to do with her unless there is an indication in the headlines that she is getting caught or punished (to put a trek-minded spin on things as a pretense of relevance to the board, this is also how I’ve had to start looking at anything about Marc Cushman and especially Alec Peters, who I’ve come to think of as Trump for the trek fan fiefdom.) Even so, I kinda like your take on the VFX.
Through a glass, darkly (and smudged), is what I had as a title for a little rant I had put together about KurtzTrek spaceship vfx stuff a couple of years back, before I decided to stop giving my best stuff away for free to message boards (am now planning to give my best stuff away for free to a little-traveled 007 forum now that I have put together a kickass pretitlesequence to introduce the next Bond, one that Bond devotees should eat up
and Eon would not consider in a million years, but at least it’ll get all the venom I’ve had for all their wrong turns this century out of my system.)
Channeling James Horner, with a nod to Goldsmith as well – love it!
It sounds like it was inspired by TWOK soundtrack. Love it!
Sounds beautiful. Less than two months to go!
Oh that’s unmistakably Horner STII/STIII inspired, very extravagant for a modern TV show (aka retro). I’m still not sure how I feel about the TOS Movie aesthetics going on with this series, that’s not really my vision for TNG in particular which has its own music and visual style. But I do love the more grand naval theming of the TOS movies, that’s something that makes them particularly unique and still beautiful today. The brass probably could use some tweaking in this clip, or re-mixing, but still very beautiful.
Ummm, TNG’s theme was lifted from TMP and its characters are all return Phase II characters plus Aliens’ female marine… Nothing wrong with borrowing from the original.
This point could be reasonable in 1987, but TNG developed its own tone and visual identity over 7 seasons and 4 movies. This Titan concept seems like Matalas just wanted to take a crack at combining two things he loved: TOS movies and TNG. Unfortunately, there’s a decent chance this season is going to be a muddled mess due to these disparate influences.
There were TOS movie tropes that got trotted out for late-era TNG, some used, others not. In AGT, Picard and co were originally going to steal the E-D out of an orbiting museum, sorta llike TSFS, and the s6 finale was going to have the E-D totalled, also a la TSFS. Disparate influences can enhance as well as distract or muddle.
Sine the Orville does the same, why not do it that way in the original franchise? ;-)
Has a real TMP vibe…. I’m also okay with the ship design, knowing that all Trek ships require serious suspension of disbelief.
Except the TMP refit of course, right?
Stunning! Majestic! Star Trek Big Picture theme! Been needed for a while now!
Sounds beautiful.
This gives me hope Matalas might someday take a crack at exploring the time period right after Undiscovered Country. I have no idea what stories could be told there, but when it comes to music and visuals, the TOS movies have always been my favorite.
Oh that would be MOST excellent.
The years after the movies and before TNG are an obvious period to fill in with another show. Even a limited one season 6-8 part series or a made for streaming movie would be welcome.
Matalas however seems to be a TNG era guy with a vision of how to take that forward into the 25th century. So, why not just be happy with that.
Goldsman seems to have a lock on the Pre-TOS to TOS era, with if anything too much of a focus on laying the foundation for TOS as opposed to telling the story of Pike’s Enterprise. It’s hard to know if another strong Showrunner would be permitted to colour in the era following.
That said, I’m one of those that really likes the Vanguard Treklit novel series that overlap with the end of TOS and go beyond.
There’s a large contingent of Treklit fans that would like the Vanguard books to be reworked into streaming serials.
Vanguard’s overarching story arc is pretty dark, more in the tone of DS9 and more than a touch of a precursor for The Expanse, but really digs into some of the issues running behind the stories of TOS era and the movies: Colonization, competition for territory with the other major species, genetic manipulation for terraforming. The relations with the Klingons are central.
The 1701 Enterprise makes appearances in the Vanguard books. A new TOS novel, ‘In Harm’s Way’ just came out with the Enterprise responding to a distress call related to the Vanguard project. It’s one of David Mack’s better books, and could be read as a stand alone.
Matalas however seems to be a TNG era guy with a vision of how to take that forward into the 25th century. So, why not just be happy with that.
Well, because what I’ve seen of the 25th century so far does nothing for me, at least in terms of storytelling. Frankly, aside from some nice visual touches here and there, the trailer for season 3 looks like the hamfisted TNG movie we didn’t get in 2004 or so. But hopefully I’m wrong.
And judging from interviews, Matalas seems to be more than just a TNG era guy. So there’s always hope.
Matalas involved in other Berman era series. I just don’t see him as deep fan of the TOS era the way Goldsman and Chabon are (and what seemed to be a problem with them helming a sequel with TNG legacy characters).
What Matalas really gets my respect for is 12 Monkeys. It’s a great example of a tightly plotted serialized show, all the more so since it lands it’s ending through four seasons of timey wimey stuff.
I was hoping his influence would save the time travel story in Picard season two. It’s clear he was given the greenlight to just turn the page for season three.
Very nice!
I heard Goldsmith more than Horner, but that’s me. Of course, early Horner was aping Goldsmith.
Sounds beautiful, can’t wait to see the Titan leaving spacedock with Kirk, Spock, and Bones…oh hang on, which generation is this series about? If the ship looks TMP/TOS movie and the music sounds like TMP/TOS movie… can’t blame them as both that look and sound are iconic and alluring… but feels a bit like they’re trying to sellotape TMP/TOS vibes onto TNG crew?
At least they’re applying some familiar Trek vibe to this series. I don’t know what vibe that was in the previous seasons, but it sure didn’t feel like TNG or any other Trek in my opinion.
Yeah, good point. Although the first episode of Season 2 had it’s merits.
I agree. The season 2 opener was pretty good.
‘My friends.. We’ve come home..’
oh wait that was Rosenmans christmas score, sorry.
(BTW I’ve just realised where that iconic ‘chewie we’re home’ was ripped from!)
Matalas was obviously brought in to salvage S3. Actually with the exception of a couple of disasterous episodes, I enjoyed S1, but he came in too late to save S2 from being almost a complete debacle.
The music sounds great… Matalas is obviously working hard on so many levels to bring us what many are hoping will be season 8 of TNG! No matter what, I am sure it will be a big improvement on S2!
52 days and counting folks! Looking forward to Feb 16th… and to next Thurs for Star Trek Prodigy’s season finale.
It sounds as though he was supposed to help with season 2, but that the powers that be made a decision to make such a radical change for season 3 that he was pulled away to focus in that early in production of season two.
Yeah, too many showrunners for S2… from what I understand he is the sole showrunner for S3.
As for S2, with the exception of a couple of episodes… what a disaster! Too many cooks in the kitchen!
Cool! That tune has some Goldsmith and Horner vibes and those of the old, three-note CBS audio logo.
I prefer the beastie boys
i’m guessing Star Trek Titan will be the next live action show
i would love a computer animated half hour show with riker and the titan (post nemesis pre picard) but i think that’ll never happen